What do you think was the most important cause(s) of the Cold War?  Why do you think the Soviet Union eventually lost to the United States and collapsed?

1) World War I and World War II are events that are larger and more complex than any one individual or group of individuals. Yet in many ways the two wars are linked by one man, Adolf Hitler.  He fought in World War I, wrote Mein Kampf in the interwar years and ordered the invasion of Poland in 1939 which started World War II in Europe. Were the horrors of World War II a natural progression of history or do you think it would not have happened without a man named Adolf Hitler?

2) Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein both started off as American allies and both ended up American enemies.  How was Bin Laden initially a US ally and what events turned him into a US enemy?  How was Saddam Hussein initially a US ally and what events turned him into a US enemy?

3) What do you think was the most important cause(s) of the Cold War?  Why do you think the Soviet Union eventually lost to the United States and collapsed?

4) Based on our studies, do you think mankind can overcome the historic obstacles of war, famine, disease and climate change?  In other words, are you optimistic for our future? Are you pessimistic?  How have our studies influenced your perspective?